Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Snowshoes, Skis Ready To Go

With over 3 feet of fresh snow, our snowshoes and backountry skiis are ready for action ! I tried out some of our new lighweight aluminum snowshoes on the Ridge trail this afternoon. They were fantastic in providing remarkable traction on the steep hills. Both the Algonquin Log Cabin and Algonquin Cottage Outpost have fantastic winter trails through forests and across frozen lakes and streams. For the intrepid, the backcountry offers endless exploration. Last February, I skied with a few friends up to a beaver meadow near Genesee Lake. Near an open section of water, we counted the tracks of beaver, wolves, mouse, rabbit, otter, deer and moose . We followed the wolf tracks which seemed to intensify as we crossed the frozen pond. Clumps of hair and bloody snow appeared in spots. We were now following what was clearly a wolf attack on a deer. 50 feet into the alders, we found the a half - eaten deer carcass. It appeared the wolves had taken a break from their feed and were likely still very close and perhaps eyeing us from a distance. It was jarring to see the carnage and rawness of Darwin's law on display.